David Skull (aka Skully) has been serving Grace Church Guildford for the past 13 years. In July he will be moving with his wife Naomi and their four children to lead Grace Plant Brighton. He explains how this happened.
Back in 2012, Montpelier Place Baptist Church sadly closed. It represented a community of Christians who had been gathering in Brighton since 1834. The building was demolished in 2017, but we don’t believe this is the end of the story. Grace Plant Brighton is sowing the seeds of a new church in central Brighton in 2021.
My involvement began at the Evangelical Ministry Assembly in June 2018. It was a strange day! Firstly, I eavesdropped on a couple of brothers talking about Acts 13. Here, the Holy Spirit asked the Antioch church to do the opposite of our usual practice in churches today. He wanted the more experienced teachers (Saul and Barnabas) to go on mission, not the younger trainees. I agreed. I had recently preached the same to our church. Secondly, while I was mulling this over, I met with Jim Sayers (now church planting in Didcot) who shared about the closure of Montpelier Place and the need for a new work to begin. Did I know of anyone with Baptist convictions willing to do it? Well, by the end of the day (and there is more to tell) the Holy Spirit was powerfully putting two and two together in my mind and heart. How could I preach Acts 13 to my church and not be willing to do it myself, should the Holy Spirit ask?
I would never counsel anyone to make big life-changing decisions based purely on subjective experiences like that day, but God had got my attention! So, with the Guildford elders’ support, we began a process of prayerful investigation and consultation with other pastors in the city. Just over two years later, Grace Church Guildford recognised the call and voted to release me from the responsibility of leadership to plant a new church in Brighton. We move down in July.
Brighton is the second-largest city in the south-east of England, and I expect you know its reputation. But we believe God does care about that great city. We’re going to sow the seeds of a new church which will both proclaim the gospel verbally and display it through relationships of love and holiness. We’re not alone. Others have faithfully laboured for years. But we believe we must play our part too. So we are going humbly with a vision help strengthen, rejuvenate and plant other gospel communities in central and east Brighton.
Please connect with us through our Link Tree if you would like to follow our progress and pray for us. You can sign up for our monthly updates https://linktr.ee/graceplantbrighton
And if you think God is calling you to be part of this mission team, then please get in touch. We would love to hear from you! graceplantbrighton@gmail.com
